Do the single currency’s 17 members sincerely want to save the euro? “Yes,” their governments all reply in unison, though, judging by the latest polls, many of their electorates are less than sure. According to Pew Research, 40pc of Italians want to return to the lira, while, in France and Spain, more people now think the euro has been a bad thing than a good one.

That’s a huge turnaround from just two years ago. Support for the single currency is fast ebbing away. To the extent that it still exists at all, it seems wholly dependent on fear of what might happen if and when things fall apart.

And German voters never wanted this currency in the first place. Not they were asked.

BRUSSELS – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is going to push for an “early” plan for further integration in the eurozone,…

Barroso is due to feed the commission’s ideas into the next summit of EU leaders at the end of June. They are set to include a banking union – tighter supervision, direct access for banks to the eurozone’s bail-out fund and a single deposit guarantee scheme – and stability bonds, a way of mutualising eurozone debt.

The ideas are not new. They are getting a fresh airing as the eurozone crisis continues to worsen. But they remain extremely controversial – with Germany particularly opposed.

However, Barroso indicated that EU leaders’ thinking is constantly evolving. “The movement is in favour of more integration in the euro area,” said the commission president.